


Set Up Sweet

by indirectkissesiniceland



Category: South Park
Genre: Alternate Universe - Bakery, Alternate Universe - Wedding Planner, F/F, M/M, matchmaker Tricia, smitten Craig, wpau
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-11
Updated: 2017-12-11
Packaged: 2019-02-13 16:43:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,287
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12988179
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/indirectkissesiniceland/pseuds/indirectkissesiniceland
Summary: Tricia insists that the owner of her favorite pastry shop bake her wedding cake. Her wedding planner older brother pays the baker a visit.





	Set Up Sweet

**Author's Note:**

> Wedding Planner AU warms my heart, honestly. What sweet content! I'm thrilled to contribute to such a delightful AU. Thank you for coming up with this lovely scenario, Gabu!
> 
> https://wondertweeker.tumblr.com/tagged/wedding-planner-au

                “This website doesn’t say anything about wedding cakes, Trish.” Craig switched his cell to his other hand so he could maneuver the trackpad on his tablet keyboard better. “I really think you should go with my guy.”

“No,” his sister said, the only monotone in the world more decided than his own.

“Sis, no wedding cakes means they can’t make the cake for your wedding. I don’t know what to tell you.”

“Well, you’re going to go talk to the baker about getting my wedding cake. I don’t know what to tell you.”

“Not in the job description.”

“I’m sorry, I thought you were a wedding planner. What is it that they do? ‘Take care of all the running around and the little details so that couples can focus on what really matters. Wedding planners make sure the magic happens.’” Tricia hummed. “Who was it who said that?”

Craig sighed the longest sigh of his life. “Me.”

“Huh. You’d think a guy who takes wedding planning sooo seriously would be willing to do just about anything for his favorite, only sister’s once-in-a-lifetime day where she’ll marry the love of her life, and—”

“ _Trish._ Stop.”

She laughed, the sound soft over the phone. Tricia was softer all the time these days, sweet and smiling and glowing with love. Craig couldn’t say no to her.

“I’ll swing by this morning,” he conceded, pulling up a notepad app on his tablet to type in the bakery’s address. “But it’s a coffee shop, Trish, they might not be able to bake a cake for a hundred people.”

“Tweek will do it. I promise. All you have to do is ask. Oh, and schedule a cake testing A-S-A-P so we can stuff our faces with his delicious cake.”

Craig paused, his stylus hovering over his tablet’s screen. “Hang on. You’re on a first-name basis with this baker?”

“Uh, yeah, duh. Kar and I get breakfast there, like, every day. Craig, come on, I’ve told you this story.” There went Tricia’s voice again, melting all around Karen’s name. Craig smiled before he could stop himself. “I went in and ordered a blueberry bagel, and the batch wasn’t out of the oven yet, so I had to wait. Then there’s this pretty girl sitting at one of the tables, and she ordered the exact same thing and got the last bagel from the last batch. So she offered to split hers with me then, and then we’d split mine when it came out.” The little laugh Tricia exhaled through her nose was nothing short of blissful. “Spent the whole day there together. I knew I’d marry her that day.”

“And you accuse _me_ of being a sap,” Craig said, trying to mask the rush of affection he felt for his sister. Her snort over the phone told him he’d failed. “I didn’t realize this was _the_ bakery. But, listen, follow-up question. If you’ve been going to this bakery regularly for over a year and are on a first-name basis with the baker, why am I the one going to ask if he’ll make your wedding cake?”

“Because I’m super busy. Oops, got to go.” Her monotone never wavered. “Say hi to Tweek for me. You can’t miss him. He’s the blond cutie covered in flour. Bye, Craig!”

Craig’s face burned as he heard the click of his sister’s hanging up on him. So that was it. His sister was trying to set him up with the guy who toasted her bagel in the morning. A new low.

True, he’d never been in love. Truer, he would like to be. Truest, after growing up seeing the way Mom looked at Dad and now Trish looked at Karen, Craig liked to think that maybe true love ran in the family. He knew it didn’t really happen like that for everybody, all fairy tales and completing one another perfectly, but it was nice to think about.

When it came to weddings, Craig was the master. He’d gone from anonymously moseying around Pinterest to a self-employed wedding planner in high demand in only a few years. He prided himself on having the magic of true love down to a science. For everyone except himself, that is, which led to a lot of awkward set-up attempts from everyone he knew.

Craig thought he could at least trust Tricia, but the last holdout had joined the ranks of trying to set him up. It was hard not to be disappointed. Twenty-seven wasn’t exactly an old maid. Old man? Craig wasn’t sure.

The coffee shop was a short walk from his usual subway stop. Though Craig wasn’t much for coffee, he’d checked the website menu for their list of teas and already had an order in mind. It would be rude not to buy anything, especially if the baker couldn’t make the cake and didn’t have the promise of income from an event.

When he pushed the door open, a little bell overhead jingled. From the chill of the coming winter curling down Denver’s streets, walking into the coffee shop was a dream. All at once, warmth welcomed Craig inside, from the hot chocolate walls to the soft chords of Louis Armstrong over the sound system. Best of all, the whole cozy shop smelled like freshly-baked cinnamon rolls.

“Hi!”

From the back, Craig assumed the kitchen, a man appeared. Craig instantly knew this was the guy Trish had told him about, and also instantly regretted being disappointed in his sister. From the soft curls of strawberry hair pinned back with what must have been a dozen clips and bobby pins, to the swipe of flour dusting his round cheeks—this was the first time a set-up attempt was actually Craig’s type.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you.” Tweek tucked a rogue curl behind his ear and reached behind himself to adjust his apron. “How may I help you?”

Craig swallowed down about ten stupid, embarrassing responses. Professionals didn’t open with _Does your hair smell like gingerbread?_

“Nice to meet you. Are you Tweek?” He crossed the floor to the counter and held out his hand to shake. Tweek blinked and offered his hand, then squawked and retracted it, wiping his palm on his apron. It left a floury handprint.

“Sorry about that. Yes, I’m Tweek!”

When Craig’s fingers closed around Tweek’s hand to shake, it was as soft and warm as he’d imagined.

“My name is Craig Tucker.” Reluctant though he was to let go of Tweek’s hand, he managed and pulled out his business card. Tweek took it and blinked.

“Wedding planner?” he read.

“My sister is getting married next spring.”

Tweek’s head popped up at that, his smile blossoming. “Oh! Congratulations.”

“And—thank you. I—”

“You’re planning her wedding?” Tweek guessed. “That’s so sweet. You must be a really nice brother.”

Craig faltered again, flushing as Tweek’s smile revealed a little gap between his two front teeth. “Uh...thank you. My sister actually met her fiancée here, and—”

Tweek lit up. “Tucker—you don’t mean Tricia and Karen, do you?”

“I do.” Craig didn’t usually pay attention to stores, chain or indie, but he wondered if independent business owners like Tweek knew every customer by name. “I guess Trish wasn’t exaggerating about being regulars.”

“Two blueberry bagels, toasted with butter. Small hot chocolate with room for milk, small orange-vanilla tea, hot.” Tweek laughed, and Craig swallowed. From under his flour-frosted cheeks, Tweek reddened. His smile turned shy, and he pushed another curl out of his face. “Tricia told me her big brother was an event planner. I should’ve, mm, guessed.”

At the back of Craig’s mind was a sneaking suspicion that Tricia had suggested to Tweek that he might like her brother. At the front of his mind, Tweek was cute as hell playing with his hair like that.

Craig coughed. “Well, Trish wanted me to come by and ask if you would make their wedding cake.”

Tweek’s hands flew to his cheeks, framing his surprised expression. “Their cake! Oh, gosh, ngh, that’s alotofpressure!”

“You don’t have to do it. Trish just wanted me to ask—”

“Of course I’ll do it! I’m honoredthatthey’d…ask, mm.” Tweek’s fingers untangled themselves from his hair. “They’re really nice customers, and…Idon’tknow…every time they come in, I think, ‘I want that someday.’ You know?”

Craig did know. His heart thudded in agreement with Tweek saying what he was thinking, and not at all because he now knew Tweek wasn’t seeing anybody.

“I just don’t want to let them down, geh.”

“You won’t,” Craig said.

The door jingled behind him, so Craig stepped aside for the wave of customers coming through the door. Tweek knew them all by name and order. Once they were served, Craig returned to the counter, tablet at the ready. “Do you have a few minutes to go over some details, or would you like me to contact you later?”

“I have time now.”

They sat at the little table nearest the register. Tweek leaned across to watch as Craig tapped his stylus through his calendar and spreadsheet apps.

“Have you ever catered an event before?”

“I’ve done pastry orders for local offices. Breakfasts of assorted muffins, Danish, that sort of thing.”

“Perfect. We’re estimating a hundred guests, so it’ll be a big cake. I know we can’t get a solid estimate until after the cake tasting, but do you think you can ballpark the cost?”

“Oh! Uhm…” Tweek glanced over at the pastry display by the register, his eyebrows knitting as he scanned his inventory. Craig waited. “What do other bakers usually charge?” he asked at last. “You’ve worked with other bakeries before. What’s fair?”

“It…varies.” Craig offered a range of mid-list cake bakeries, and Tweek’s jaw dropped.

“That’salotofmoney!” Instead of the smug glee Craig had come to know in the world of wedding catering, Tweek was clearly horrified.

“It’s a lot of work, too. And pretty much the most important cake of your life.” At Tweek’s wide eyes, Craig quickly added, “No pressure, really!”

“Well, there’s no way I’m charging that much, so put a ‘less than’ sign on your spreadsheet.” Tweek put the heels of his hands together and flapped his palms open and shut like a mouth. “Pac Man.”

Craig couldn’t help it. Tweek’s expression was so serious under the flour and tangle of curls, and his Pac Man gesture was so cute. He chuckled, the sound past his lips before he could stop it. Tweek curled his hands back in towards himself.

“I’m sorry, I wasn’t laughing at you. Pac Man. I like that.”

Shyly, Tweek adjusted his apron again. Craig wrenched his eyes back to his tablet.

“When are you available for a cake testing?”

“What’s a cake testing?” Tweek propped his chin up in his hands. “I hope you don’t mind all the questions. You just seem very approachable, and of course you know what you’re doing here.”

Now _there_ was a compliment Craig had never been on the receiving end of before. “I-I don’t mind. A cake testing is when the couple comes in to try different samples of cake and frosting flavors to pick what they want for the real thing. We can confirm price from there, once you know what ingredients you’ll need.”

“Easy enough.” Tweek tilted his head, his cheek falling to one palm. “Do you come to the testing, too?”

“I…can come.” He rarely did. Mostly Craig set up appointments and left his clients to it. Not many couples wanted their wedding planner hovering while they fed each other cake.

“Because you haven’t tried any of my food yet.” Tweek’s eyes glittered. “I bake a mean cupcake.”

Positive that he was being teased, Craig said, “I’ll bet you do. All right, let’s schedule it.”

They made the appointment, and Craig took down the shop’s e-mail address for follow-up confirmation.

“Do you want my number?” Tweek asked. Craig’s stylus skittered across his tablet screen. “My number, I mean, not the shop’s. Itmightbeeasier, geh, getting in touch that way!”

“Sure, if you don’t mind.”

Once they had everything set, Craig got up to leave. Tweek put a hand on his arm that sent fireworks shooting up to his brain.

“Wait.” He hopped back over to the display case and returned with a plate of assorted cupcakes. “Take one.”

“Oh, I—” Craig reached for his wallet.

“No, _take_ one,” Tweek said. “You’re a wedding planner, and this is your only sister’s special day. I want you to know that her cake is in good hands.”

Craig examined his options. Tweek pointed.

“This one is vanilla cake with orange-vanilla frosting. Red velvet cake with cream cheese frosting, apple-cider cake with cinnamon buttercream frosting, devil’s food with raspberry-chocolate buttercream frosting, and double-chocolate brownie with dark chocolate ganache.” The way Tweek sighed around that last one told Craig it was his favorite. After an agonizing few seconds—they all looked and smelled great, Craig had to admit—Craig picked devil’s food.

“Unusual,” Craig said. Most bakeries only made devil’s food cake on order, rarely in cupcake form for everyday inventory. Craig knew. He’d looked.

“That’s why I carry it.” Tweek returned to his display to put back the other cupcakes. “Enjoy, Mr. Tucker! I’ll see you at the cake tasting.” With an impish smile, he added, “Or sooner, maybe, once you’ve had a taste of my cupcakes.”

Willing himself not to flush, Craig thanked Tweek for his time and hurried out of the shop. It wasn’t until he was a few blocks away at his consultation office that Craig unwrapped his cupcake and had a bite.

Thank goodness he hadn’t tried it in the shop. He probably would have proposed.


End file.
